


A Defense of the Chant in Eight Parts

by Flutiebear



Category: Dragon Age
Genre: Chant of Light, Qunari, The Chantry, Zealotry, evangelism, petrice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-08
Updated: 2011-12-08
Packaged: 2017-10-27 02:20:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/290583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flutiebear/pseuds/Flutiebear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I patterned this off of several real-life anti-Muslim sermons, as well as the cadences I remember from a youth spent in ‘warehouse’ churches. You’ll notice that she gets several things about the Qunari wrong, purposefully or not, but hey, isn’t that the way zealots always are?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Defense of the Chant in Eight Parts

**Author's Note:**

> Here’s the full text of Mother Petrice’s anti-Qunari sermon from the latest "In the Shadow of the Gallows" chapter, Sermons. (http://archiveofourown.org/works/283891/chapters/464803).

Faithful, some of you I know, but most of you I do not. My name is Mother Petrice. I am a Qunari scholar here in the Chantry, and I stand here before you today because the Grand Cleric has asked me to share some insight on the subject of the Qunari.

I am well aware that this subject is controversial, even among the faithful. There is a lot of misinformation, and it can be hard to know who to believe. But I do not seek support for my thoughts in the Chant of the Light. Rather, it is the Chant that has given me the thoughts I present here today.

It has long been argued that ‘all religions are, at heart, the same thing’. Scholars draw comparisons between the pagan goddess of the elves Mythal and Andraste; or between the Maker and the Avvar Mountain God, Korth. But this morning, we will examine the idea a little more closely, as it pertains to the Chant and the Qun.

The Qunari mention Andraste and claim to honor her sacrifice, so today I will answer the question, ‘Do the Qunari believe in the Maker?’

In order to answer that question, we will look this morning at some of the key differences between Qunari and Chantry teachings. I realize eight points are a lot for a morning sermon, and to be honest, I wanted to cut it down some, but each of these ideas is so basic, so important, that we need to try to cover them all.

 **Point 1: The Divine Chant**

We as Andrastians believe that the Maker speaks to us in the Song that stirs men’s hearts: The Chant of Light. Qunari believe that this is not good enough. They believe men’s hearts can be corrupted, so they look to the physical Book of Koslun as their authoritative guide. But a book can be destroyed. It can be burnt. And if the physical is destroyed – as all things in this world must eventually return to the Fade – then what happens to the god that is associated with them?

A book can be destroyed. But if you forget the words to a song, the melody is always in your heart.

 **Point 2: The Prophetess**

Chantric belief is plainly stated in the Canticle of Andraste, 7:12: And Andraste said, “Let the blade pass through the flesh. Let my blood touch the ground. Let my cries touch their hearts. Let mine be the last sacrifice.”

Qunari, however, take this literally. They believe that Andraste was just a soldier, like Shartan or Maferath. She is not as important a prophet as their kossith king, Koslun, who they revere as a god.

In fact, the very idea that the Maker would take a bride is repugnant to the Qunari. The Book of Koslun says that “Far is it removed from grace and wisdom that any should show favor among the flock and take a man or woman as their own.” Here’s what you must understand: The Qunari have no concept of brides or husbands. For Qunari, marriage is an abomination: They breed their people like Fereldan mabaris, matching males and females in pens like sires and bitches. Being a bride, favored by the Maker, is not a role associated with servitude or enduring the pyre’s torment, but a sin against their very way of life.

 **Point 3: Free Will**

We Andrastians believe that the Maker embodied us with free will, with “souls made of dream and idea, hope and fear, endless possibilities”. This is what distinguishes us from spirits and demons, who can only reflect or mimic our own desires. Remember the stanza of Threnodies 5:7, and the Maker said to us, “To you my second-born I grant this gift: In your heart shall burn ‘the unquenchable flame’, all-consuming and never satisfied.” And then, in Threnodies 5:8, it is sung, “And then the Maker sealed the gates of the Golden City and there, He dwelled, waiting to see the wonders His children would create.”

Well. Pretty powerful, isn’t it? The Maker gave us free will and intended us to use it.

The Qunari believe that the Qun is the source of all fates, of all good and evil. Koslun teaches that “it is to be”, or that the only choice is to accept one’s assignment within. Accepting your fate within the Qun is the source of all good, and denying that fate is the source of all evil. And the Qun is capricious: Whatever the Qun demands is right simply because it demands it, no matter the ethics of it. Therefore, there is a strong sense of predestination among the Qunari: The Qun is absolute, and we are all just its puppets.

One can easily see where the idea would arise that there are no ethical boundaries that bind the Qun, and that this could lead down a path of justifying horrible acts of brutality, oppression, even terrorism.

 **Point 4: The Maker is Love**

Love is not used to describe the Qun. Andrastians are beloved by the Maker and his Bride; for he so loved his Children that he gave us all a second chance, and the Bride so loved the world that she sacrificed herself to move the Maker’s heart.

But the Qun’s supreme attribute is justice, not love. In fact, love is almost never used to describe the Qun. Love, as a word, does not exist in kossith languages.

 **Point 5: The Maker is our Father and We His Children**

In the Chant of Light, again and again the Maker affectionately calls us his children, his “second-born”. Again, Threnodies 5:8, “and there He dwelled, waiting to see the wonders His children would create”.

The Qunari believe it is blasphemous to call Koslun “father” or “mother”, or any familial title, because family titles are themselves blasphemous. Familial love is an abomination among the Qunari. Only servitude to the greater Qun matters.

This is because for Qunari, the greater nature of the Qun is unknowable. You cannot really know the Qun; the best you can hope for is to identify your role within it, and act accordingly. The Qun is not affected by our actions or attitudes. Conversely, the Chant teaches us that the Maker created us specifically to have a relationship with him, and our actions and attitudes do matter to Him.

 **Point 6: Humans are inherently sinful**

The Threnodies explains our situation on Thedas, that it was the original sin of the Magisters who caused the Maker to turn away from his flock. From the Canticle of Darkness: “What hath man’s sin wrought?” And in Transfigurations 10 it is revealed that Andraste gave us our salvation, through the gift of repentence: “But the one who repents, who has faith unshaken by the darkness of the world, and boasts not, nor gloats over the misfortunes of the weak, but takes delight in the Maker’s law and creations, she shall know the peace of the Maker’s benediction.”

The Qunari believe that the only sin is refusal of duty to the Qun. They believe no permanent consequences come from their actions. Therefore, because nobody is ever lost, there is no need for a savior like Andraste to arise.

 **Point 7: The origins of salvation**

Andrastians believe that the only way to be taken to the Maker’s side after death is to repent your sins and spread the Chant of Light to the four corners of the world. The Qunari, however, believe that if everyone on earth is converted to the Qun, they can achieve paradise on earth. Once everyone is converted, then there will be no need for a Maker, or salvation at all, because all will be as a single unit within the Qun.

 **Point 8: The role of violence**

Andrastians realize that violence must always be a last resort, and only then used to protect the innocent. But the Book of Koslun is clear on the role religious violence can play in fulfilling the Qun: As their kossith king wrote, “Fight and slay the unbelievers wherever you find them. Fight those who deny the Qun and the Way of Koslun.”

I hope I’ve demonstrated this morning that even though many still argue that ‘all religions teach the same things,’ it actually couldn’t be further from the truth. What Qunari and Andrastians believe is not even within the same realm of belief. What the Qunari and Andrastians believe are, in fact, diametrically opposed to each other. The question for us is: Which do we believe is true?

The Qunari who conquered Kirkwall in 7:56 Storm, under whose bloody thumb our ancestors were ground, their children brainwashed, their parents sent to forced labor camps—they and their followers did not hijack the Qun. They simply took it seriously. When is it time we start taking it seriously too?

Let us end with a reading from the Canticle of Trials 1:1. And Andraste said:

 _Maker, my enemies are abundant.  
Many are those who rise up against me.  
But my faith sustains me; I shall not fear the legion,  
Should they set themselves against me._


End file.
